(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a smart architectural surface (SAS). More specifically, the present invention relates to smart digital modules combined by sensing, cognition, and actuation capabilities; every digital module is a complete, independent computer with inputs, outputs, and communications; the digital modules are globally coordinated or self-organized to solve problems cooperatively; and the digital modules stack up or snap into a framework to form a smart digital wall which is a planar construct for interfacing various interactions with a user by using the smart digital modules, and a context-aware interactive multimedia system and an operation method thereof.
(b) Description of the Related Art
Walls in buildings or houses have various functions as well as physical components for partitioning the space into smaller ones in the home environment. Attempts to apply screens to the walls for projecting images or video thereon have been suggested as information techniques and display technologies have developed. This trend demonstrates that smart homes or ubiquitous homes as interactive environments with inhabitants have appeared in our time.
As to prior art, Pinhanez of Watson Laboratory in IBM proposed “The Everywhere Displays Projector: A Device To Create Ubiquitous Graphical Interfaces” in the Proc. Of Ubiquitous Computing 2001 (Ubicomp'01), 2001, Atlanta, Ga. In this transaction, the device includes an LCD projector and a rotary mirror, and the LCD projector receives information on a location of an inhabitant and displays information desired by a user on a desired location of a screen. However, the above-noted projector has no device for sensing the location of the user in real-time, and has a limit specific to beam projectors in that part of the screen is hidden when a subject is provided between the projector and a plane of incidence.
As to another prior art, Prante of Germany disclosed “Hello. Wall Beyond Ambient Displays” in the Video Track and Adjunct Proceedings of the 5th Intern. Conference on Ubiquitous Computing (Ubicomp'03), Seattle, Wash., USA, Oct. 12-15, 20 which proposes a GossipWall which is an interactive surface for generating different actuated patterns depending on distances from the user and which includes a plurality of cells based on sensors, and each cell uses an LED unit and an RFID transmitter to sense passersby and display various beam patterns. Further, when the user carries the ViewPort, a mobile display with him to approach the GossipWall, the ViewPort reads an ID of each cell and allows the user to read display unique information specific to a predetermined cell. However, this system fails to provide specialized information to the user and requires an additional mobile device for an interactive interface since it only allows the LED to display very limited categories and amount of information.
The ALIVE system built at the MIT Media Lab by Pattie Maes, Bruce Blumberg, Sandy Pentland, and others was a smart room that tracked a person.
Another piece of prior art applicable to reactive display is Stefan Agamanolis' MIT PhD thesis (2001), in which he describes a system called Cabbage which automatically would reconfigure a visual information screen—including changing scale—as a function of distance and activity measured by a distance sensor attached to the video display. Another project of Agamanolis' was for the ID/Entity gallery show where portraits in an art gallery reacted as a viewer moved around in front of them.
Glorianna Davenport at the MIT Media Lab produced a video installation of a flock of pigeons that react to what sensors detect about the presence and activity of viewers.
The previous MIT systems discussed above involve single integrated systems rather than scalable sets of smart modular elements that perform the sensing and output functions. In addition, conventional skills for utilizing the walls of a building as a screen for projected images, and the conventional multimedia reproduction system, video conference system, and video phone system generally output audio and video data, and hence, they provide no various interactive operations with the user.